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Sunday, 8 March 2015

Family

Jo and Cliff on board Zooropa

Jo helping out with the lines

We picked up Joanne and Cliff from Rodney Bay Marina on a Sunday night and took them directly to the boat anchored out in Rodney Bay. The next day was filled with a walk up to the Fort then in to town for a few groceries, an early supper and bed in anticipation of a midnight wake up call. It was anchor up and off by 0030, headed for Bequia, an approximately 12 hour trip. Cliff was keen to stay up and help with the watches, Joanne, not so much!! Just kidding, she kindly kept me company as we sailed down the coast of St.Vincent. We were all pretty tired when we arrived and so had a quick snooze before going ashore to check into the Grenadines.

Admiralty Bay, Bequia is a favourite anchorage of ours. It has just about everything that we would wish for. We like to anchor near Princess Margaret beach, a lovely long stretch of white sand. It is good for swimming and at the headland there is excellent snorkelling. There are multiple dingy docks, all in good condition. From any one of these you take the newly( looks like) constructed path which meanders along the waterfront into the town of Port Elizabeth. Spread out along the path are various bars and restaurants with nice seating areas looking out across the bay. The town is nice, neither too large nor too run down and is home to a fabulous specialty grocery store called Doris's. This shop is jam packed with good stuff, lots of it from England, good frozen meats and fresh baked goodies, yum yum. We spent three days in Bequia, enjoying beach time and snorkelling. Most of one day was taken up with an attempted walk up to Peggy's Rock, a rock face from which you look down over the entire bay. Unfortunately we never did find the correct trail and ended up practically having to make our own trail thru the undergrowth; a machete would have come in handy! Many hours later and after an incredibly steep descent; by now covered in scratches; we ended up in a local mans garden who kindly showed us the way back to the main road and a bus back home, Peggy's Rock never having been reached.

The Tobago Cays with Canouan Island in the background.

We had a lovely sail down to the Tobago Cays. The cays consist of five uninhabited islands, mostly surrounded by the Horseshoe reef and beyond that the End of the World Reef. Anchored behind the reef, even with the wind blowing hard, you are in protected waters. Mooring balls are provided closer still to the reef from which you tie up the dingy and then jump over to enjoy some very good snorkelling. We saw an enormous Barracuda, which fortunately kept a respectable distance!

Overlooking the Tobago Cays

The sisters at the Cays

Anchoring in the Cays

John, Lauren, Joanne, Phil and Ian on Pasture Bay, Mustique

Then it was off to Mustique, we had a rough ride right into 30 knot squalls and ended up motoring most of the way. Our Uncle John and family rent a villa on the Island each February and we had planned a family reunion. We were treated to a wonderful day with them. We did a tour of the Island,were served wonderful meals, one of which was a full on picnic lunch served by the staff of the villa down on the beach, delicious! It was so nice to have a refreshing dip in the pool ( fresh water!) in the afternoon and then another great meal that evening. All in all a wonderful day and so nice to see our cousins and their young families. Thank you again John and Lauren.

Now it was time to head north to St.Lucia again. We had a quick sail up to Bequia where we checked out of the Grenadines. Spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and then back to the boat to prep for another overnighter to Soufriere, St.Lucia

Liquid lunch at Anse Chastenet, St Lucia

Many thanks to Jo and Cliff for being such good company, good chefs, great galley help and excellent crew on board Zooropa.